简介：Despiteitsname,e-commerceisnotfullyautomated.Typically,onlinetransactionsrequireasignificantlevelofhumanintervention.Customersundertakethesearchforproducts,services,potentialvendorsandbusinesspartners.Theyevaluatealternatives,decidewhatgoodstobuyandwhen,fromwhichvendor,andhowmuchtheyarewillingtopayfor.Theyengageinpotentialnegotiations,carryoutthetransactionsandsoon.Asthosemarketsbecomemature,newproductsandservices,aswellasnewpractices,arebeginningtoappear.Thereisalreadyampleevidencethatagent-basedtechnologywillbecrucialforthesedevelopments,reflectingthatbothbuyersandsellersbeingvigorouslyseektechniquestoimprovetheirperformance.ThisworksurveysseveraloftheseagentsthathelpelectroniccommercesystemsbydescribingtheirrolesinthecontextofaConsumerBuyingBehavior(CBB)model.TheCBBmodelpresentedaugmentstraditionalmarketingmodelswithconceptsfromSoftwareAgentsresearchtoaccommodateelectronicmarkets.